Cheers to Glenn Tilbrook, power-pop lifer | Concert preview

“The first bit of advice any writer will give to an aspiring writer,” says English singer-songwriter-guitarist Glenn Tilbrook, who plays Seattle’s Tractor Tavern Wednesday, “is to write about what you know… and keep doing it.”

In their New Wave-era band Squeeze, Tilbrook and his writing partner, Chris Difford, embraced this philosophy.

Difford was the astute wordsmith, Tilbrook the honey-voiced tunesmith, and together they spun working-class vignettes — about life and love in the neighborhood pubs and basement apartments of their native South East London — into power-pop perfection.

From 1979 to 1981, Squeeze issued a top-tier trilogy of LPs — “Cool For Cats,” “Argybargy” and “East Side Story” — fully deserving of the John Lennon and Paul McCartney comparisons they elicited. The band went on to put out records nearly every other year until going on hiatus in 1999.

“It just wasn’t as good as it used to be,” Tilbrook explains. “I had to throw the chips up in the air, and start again.”

After a pair of solo outings, Tilbrook formed a new band, The Fluffers, in 2006. “We did all that stuff Squeeze did in the early days,” he says. “Driving ourselves around, setting up our own gear, and sleeping on people’s floors. It forged an incredible bond between us, and our playing got very tight.”

Inspired, he dialed up his old friend. “I said to Chris, ‘look, we’d be mad if we didn’t utilize some of that energy in Squeeze, because that’s what was missing towards the end.’”

Difford agreed, and Squeeze went back on the road in 2007, then again in 2012. Come 2014, they’ll release their first new album in 16 years.

Whether with the band or on his own, Tilbrook, 56, continues to be one of the most proficient, expressive guitarists in the business. His gigs are spirited and spontanteous, featuring Squeeze staples like “Up The Junction” and “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” alongside selections from solo records like the forthcoming “Happy Endings” and even, on occasion, Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” on 12-string acoustic — if you can imagine.

For proof of his music’s endurance, Tilbrook doesn’t have to look any further than the faces in his audiences.

“I’ve been noticing younger people coming to the shows,” he says, “and not with their parents.”

Second-generation Squeeze fans?

“Maybe third!” Tilbrook laughs.

“Growing up, I know I went back and discovered a lot of things that had been made before I was born. Good music doesn’t age… and I think Squeeze has stood the test of time.”

About us

Seattle Times music coordinator Paul de Barros has written about jazz and pop music for the paper since 1982 and is the author of “Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle.” On Twitter @pdebarros.

Andrew Matson is a freelance writer and close follower of the Seattle pop music scene – especially the genres of rap, rock and electronic. On Twitter @andrewmatson.

Seattle native Gene Stout has been writing about popular music for more than two decades and has interviewed and profiled many of Seattle’s best-known musicians. On Twitter @popmusiccritic.

Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based writer who has authored eight books, including the bestselling biography of Kurt Cobain, "Heavier Than Heaven." On Twitter @Charlesrcross.

Charlie Zaillian served as music director of Olympia’s influential KAOS-FM, has a particular affection for punk rock and has freelanced for The Seattle Times since 2011. On Twitter @czaillian

Owen R. Smith is a freelance journalist and music writer, country music aficionado, erstwhile sportswriter and one-time novelist. On Twitter @inanedetails.

Gillian G. Gaar has written extensively about music and popular culture and is the author of several books. On Twitter @GillianGaar.

Mike Ramos is a Seattle native and freelance writer who has followed rap music since the early '90s and can sometimes be heard DJing on KEXP FM. On Twitter: @RAM0S206.

Andrew Gospe is a freelance writer and electronic musician who's called Seattle home since 2009. On Twitter: @gospea.